What Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo referred to as a "confrontation" ended in one death and another wounding on Friday night. According to a press release, Charlottesville Police officers received a report of shots fired and arrived at the 1600 block of 6th Street SE near midnight, where they found four Hispanic males—one with a gunshot wound to the shoulder, and a second dead from a gunshot wound to the head. Update: The homicide victim was identified in a press release from Longo as 32-year-old Miguel Salazar; the gunshot victim, 25-year-old Rafael Ayala, is said to be in stable condition at UVA Medical Center.
The press release mentions that the four men were "approached by two black males," but gives no further physical description of the parties involved. The release also says: "Investigators are not discussing specifics with regard to motive, number of shots fired, type of weapon or weapons used, or any other facts connected with this investigation." Anyone with information concerning the incident may contact Crimestoppers at 977-4000, or the Charlottesville Police Department at 970-3280.
According to a report on the police department website, there were no gun-related homicides between January 1 and November 30, 2009. The same report shows that, during the same period, there were 35 reported incidents of gun-related robbery, up from 21 in 2008. The same period also saw an increase in weapon law offenses—71 in 2009, a roughly 18 percent increase from 58 in 2008.
